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Home >> Photography >> Accessories Lowepro
Pro Roller 3
The Pro Roller 3 surrounded by othe Lowepro stablemates of the Pro Trekker backpack, Omni Trekker and Reporter 400 shoulder bag>> Background During the 2002 wedding season, I took to packing my primary Bronica camera already set-up with a Newton flash bracket, film back and lens attached. That took up valuable real estate inside the bag and meant I had to leave some accessories at home, such as the seldom-used AE prism, and/or the spare SQ-Ai body. Not great options because you never know… The Lowepro Reporter 400 would also be brought along to handle 35mm accessories and lenses with both F100 cameras strung around my neck. So, two cameras with respective lenses, flash brackets, flash cords and flashes on me physically, with two bags/cases slung on my shoulder. Did I mention the tripod too? It would get even worse if I had to haul out the Bronica and mount it to the tripod. Yes, I know this is why assistants exist, but right now I’m not usually the main photo guy making the big bucks for the shoots I’m involved with. The main guy has the paid assistant and I’m just the hired help, but you just wait… It was not fun to have to haul that amount of equipment with me from one location to the other even if most of the time I was working with the 35mm cameras. My friend Larry, who I photograph for, also hauls around two Lowepro Magnum cases, but he has them configured so that he can just toss in his two Canon 1v kits quickly and still only end up carrying two cases and one tripod when needed. My kit was more than double his and that called for one mutha’ of a case. The primary requirement was for a case large enough to handle at least two fully rigged cameras of flash bracket, cords, and flash with lens attached, plus all the other lenses and accessories to support those two cameras. I realized that I would still have to carry at least one fully rigged camera on me, no matter what I bought and perhaps even a second bag to haul items that would be needed quickly. The research began with one company and ended with one company, Lowepro. I’m sure there are other companies’ products to look at, but I went with the company whose products I knew best and had the most experience with. Almost all of the bags, cases and backpacks I’ve used have come from Lowepro, which pretty much has the largest and most diverse lineup of bags and cases in the industry. Being a Canadian-owned company didn’t hurt either for good old maple leaf pride. Perusing through the Lowepro catalogue had me zone in on the Pro Roller cases as being the most promising products to look at. I’d seen them in the stores in the past, but never paid much attention to them and of course, when I want to look them over, the stores didn’t have them in. A purchase decision would have to be done sight unseen. The big problem for me after deciding on a Pro Roller was which one. My catalogue is a couple of years old now and thus it only had the Pro Roller 2 as the biggest one available, but a look over at the Vistek website indicated a new one had been introduced, the Pro Roller 3, the largest of the lot. Hmm… Specs were gleaned over to see the relative size difference and yes, the PR3 was indeed meaningfully larger than the PR2, but how much more meaningful because until you actually see the products for yourself, it can be difficult to visualize how relative the differences are. The difference in length was negligible, but the difference in width meant having at least one extra partition worth of lenses and accessories to carry in the PR3 versus the PR2. Another key was the depth of the cases with the PR3 obviously deeper and this did have significance for me because one of my brackets is the Stroboframe Pro T, which when laid on its side is still about nine-inches tall. The depth of the PR3 also allows one to stand a handle-mount Metz 45 CL-4 upright and it will also accommodate the Nikon 70-200 VR lens with hood reversed, so that’s pretty deep. I went back and forth between the PR2 and PR3 for a few days as I tried to work out how either case would work out for a wedding photography workflow. I ultimately decided that if I bought the smaller case I would probably regret not buying the larger one down the road, so off I went to my local shop to order one in. Total tally with taxes was a few bucks over $500 CAN for the Pro Roller 3 and it was delivered in less than a week, despite the store having some misgivings about being able to bring it quickly for me. It sat unused and unloved for a week and half at my friend’s house while I figured out some way to explain to my wife that I had bought yet another camera case. As a wedding booking loomed closer I had to face the music and bring it home and configure it for the shoot. My wife just shook her head at another Edwin spending moment in which she was sure would result in another folly of selling off unused bags soon. Not so, I replied for I have now enough bags and cases to meet many needs. When first starting out in photography, a budding photographer can probably make do with a small bag or case, but as the skills and interest develop and as the photographer branches out into different types of photography, the need for multiple bags and cases becomes very apparent. A shoulder bag for the city and other general usage, a medium sized backpack for short trail walks and a larger one for serious outdoors excursions (if that is where your interests lie) and if you are at all interested in weddings or other social events, a large professional case is beneficial. It becomes more complicated when you use two formats, as I do for most weddings and I already explained, it became a real pain in the neck, literally. Upon receiving the PR3 from the shop, everyone was in awe as to how big the damn thing is. It is probably safe to say that mine was the first one to have rolled through the store. However, I was a bit chagrinned to find out that Vistek had heavily discounted the PR3 to below what I paid for mine while I was awaiting it to come in, but sources say that Vistek is bringing in US market products to undercut the official Canadian distribution chain. I have my doubts on the veracity of this since I believe the Vistek sales price was still in line for them to make a profit from official Canadian distributed products – a tiny profit, but still a profit. The Pro
Roller 3 The specifications (in inches) for the PR2 and PR3 are as follows:
As you can see the PR2 and PR3 are the same length, but differ in width and depth. A 2x3 inch difference for depth and width does not seem like much, but when you add in the third dimension of 22 inches of length, that does translates into significant storage space available. Is that extra space worth it? Let us find out. The PR3 comes with a default set-up of two long dividers running the length of the case and dividing it into thirds with a number of smaller dividers to further segment the case into a number of individual wells. The middle third section is wider than the outside thirds and these outside thirds are also slightly deeper than the middle section thanks to the pullout handle section at the back of the pack taking up an inch or so of depth. Thus the PR3 is not completely flat at the bottom of the case. I configured the PR3 for my intended use by taking out one of the long dividers and kept the other one in place. I had to use an unused divider from the Omni Trekker to help out in the custom configuration and finally ended up with what you see below in the sample image.
The long divider side houses three Bronica lenses, a teleconverter and extension tube, prism and handheld meter, infrared flash trigger and other misc. flash accessories, and two film backs. For the lenses and lens accessories, I doubled up the stacking due to the generous depth afforded by the PR3. In one compartment, I had the 40mm lens at the bottom and 50mm on top, and in the other I had the teleconverter and extension tube on the bottom with the 150mm lens on top – keeping the less-used items at the bottom. The two-thirds main section sees the flash bracket rigged Bronica body at the bottom of the case with a backup SQ-Ai sitting beside it in its compartment. Above the Bronica cameras, sits a Nikon F100 with the Metz 45 CL-4 flash and 70-200mm VR lens attached. In the top corner beside the Metz flash is another compartment for backup flash units or extra lenses. The inside cover flap has two large pockets that I toss in assorted bits and pieces such as tools, spare winding crank for the Bronicas, cleaning accessories, filters and whatever else I think I might want or need, but rarely if ever use at all. The outside cover flap has one large pocket that I use to store a towel, cloths and garbage bags for placing on dirty surfaces that a bride in a nice white dress is not so keen to sit on. Tip for prospective wedding photographers, bring along some space blankets to keep the bride and bridesmaids warm during cold weather shoots – space blankets are those thin foil-like blankets that do very well in reflecting what little heat is available, back to the body – also makes for some fun photos. This front pocket is also wide enough to accommodate large reflectors. That is basically it for what I could cram into the PR3. I could store a lot more though (both 35mm and medium format kits in whole) if I had disassembled the Bronica and F100, but that was not the intention for the PR3. When working a wedding, you want to work quickly and efficiently and keep wasted time to a minimum. The wedding party standing around doing nothing while you assemble you gear is wasted time. Having the gear assembled and ready to go immediately maximizes the time for taking actual photos of the wedding party. This point is less important for those using a single format or shooting entirely digital, but for the old-fashioned types like me still using film for such shoots, having my Bronica ready to go for some outdoor fill-flash photos is a must. And having a space available immediately to store my long-lens ready F100 is peace of mind reassurance that it isn’t just sitting on top of a shoulder bag, ready to be knocked onto the ground by someone rushing around the scene or absconded by a passerby with sticky fingers. However, even those people using single format systems for weddings would do well with a smaller Pro Roller case, especially if you’re into using bulky flash brackets. Then again, you may just find it more practical and speedy to run around with two cameras hanging off of you. If I were a single format photographer, I’d likely only work with one case like my Omni Trekker to store film, lenses and accessories and just carry the dual F100 kits on me. The days past when I worked with an F90x and 35-70mm lens for 90% of the day seem so distant now. The size of the PR3 with a tripod attached is not so large that it can’t fit into a compact car’s trunk, but then there may be little space for anything else. Putting a fully loaded PR3 into the trunk is made easier by a handle located at the bottom of the case, so that one can get a good, two-armed grip on it. The PR3 is quite heavy when loaded up, but thanks to those handles, the weight is quite manageable for myself and my initial fears of it being a two-man load subsided. The wheels on the Pro Roller series are basically beefy roller blade types that should last a long time since they won’t go through the miles of use and abuse of real roller blades. The wheels roll the case smoothly, but I found the best rolling action was when I pulled the case behind me. Rolling the case in front of me got me some swerving action towards the sides of a sidewalk or walkway. Hauling it on the stairs is just like rolling a dolly, but given the expensive equipment I have inside, I grunt it up and down the stairs rather then giving the gear a jostle, especially going down. When actually working out of the case, one can stand it at an angle thanks to a support piece at the back of the PR3. It uses Velcro to stick to the back when not being used. It’s handy but it does not matter much to me since I can work out of the case with it flat; however, I can see it coming into its own if working on wet ground where one would rather not have the whole case resting on the wet surface. Two tripod/lightstand holders finish off the features of the PR3 and a generous supply of bungy cord snap locks are provided to ensure the tripod and stands are securely attached. One can also bungy cord an extra bag on top of the case when the pull handle is out Before purchasing a PR3 size case, think carefully about your workflow and how you intend to use the case before committing a nice chunk of coin for it. At a restaurant, even if the client provides a seat at a table for the photographer, it’s not as if you can sit it right beside you during the meal. It has to go into a corner somewhere where it will not be seen, yet still be quickly available to access the equipment. For me, the PR3 is primarily for the medium format kit and provides more than enough working space to configure this single kit effectively for maximum readiness. Where it gets interesting and potentially cramped is when I try to squeeze in as much 35mm equipment as I can inside of it too. At the end of the first wedding shoot using the PR3, I did actually manage to toss in a considerable amount of gear that was nowhere near how I had originally packed it, but I knew it was all nicely protected inside. Caveats Secondly, two large internal pockets seem a bit much and I would prefer one of the long ones divided into two smaller ones to better isolate and separate different accessories that one would like to bring along, e.g. film in one smaller case and tools or filters in another. Smaller is relative to the case’s overall size and halving one of these internal pockets still results in a generous size pocket. Thirdly, one large outside pocket is great for the reflector but a couple of small ones would be nice for packing pens and notebooks and other sundry items that a photographer might want access to, but not need to open up the whole case for. Other than those points, if you can deal with the weight of a fully loaded case, it and its smaller brethren are certainly worthy of consideration for those in need of a large case to work out of. It also scares the bejeezus out of the clients and ensures that they know you’re serious about the shoot J One does look a bit strange hauling what appears to be a large piece of luggage behind you from a church and actually, you can use it as luggage since the generously protected inner section can be removed, leaving just the shell of the case for other uses. For those with multiple kits, one can purchase additional inner sections to store different equipment and swap them in and out as needed, but I suspect that the cost of this inner section would be so much that you would be better off buying a whole new Pro Roller unit. If ever I find or make enough money to buy some highly coveted White Lightning strobes with wireless and battery powered options, I would likely purchase another Pro Roller to store that kit. So, is the Pro Roller 3 worth the extra cost in money, size and weight over a Pro Roller 2? A qualified yes, since I’ve not handled the Pro Roller 2, but I fully utilize and appreciate the extra storage space afforded by the larger case. |
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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My
most recent, largest and most expensive camera case purchased to date
and my what a case it is. It makes the already large Lowepro Pro Trekker
backpack look svelte and it completely dwarfs the Lowepro Omni Trekker
I had been using previously for medium format equipment. I bought the
Pro Roller 3 for a specific use, but before going further on this, let’s
discuss some history first.
